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hypercube42342 Ballot for 2019 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 8, 2019, 8:47 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I tried to be more reactive this week, and base my rankings more on what has already been proven on the field than most rankings this early in the season (though preseason expectations still played a factor, because two games is not enough to prove that a team is good in most cases). Teams that won big were heavily rewarded (particularly Maryland, because I don't think Syracuse is a bad team, and Wisconsin for the two shutouts in addition to their preseason expectations). The top 6 remained the same. 7-12 almost defaulted into their spots, with the exception of Wisconsin, because I don't think any of them except for Auburn and Texas have proven themselves against good competition on the field yet, and both Auburn and Texas have left some doubts.

Rank Team Reason
1 Clemson Tigers +0. Very impressive win against A&M.
2 Alabama Crimson Tide +0
3 LSU Tigers +0. LSU had an impressive win against a good Texas team.l expect them to be at this ranking until they or someone in front of them loses.
4 Georgia Bulldogs +0
5 Ohio State Buckeyes +0
6 Oklahoma Sooners +0
7 Auburn Tigers Oregon's huge win, combined with losses and poor performances around them in my rankings, helped Auburn more than their own game did. +6
8 Wisconsin Badgers They may not be good teams that Wisconsin is annihilating on the field, but they are truly annihilating them. Two shutouts in a row is worthy of being rewarded. +8
9 Texas Longhorns They picked up a close loss against a top 5 team. Other teams falling played as much of a role in the small size of the ranking drop as their own performance did. -1
10 Utah Utes Utah's win wasn't a bad one, but their performance on the field over the past two weeks was not as impressive as the teams that moved past them (Auburn and Wisconsin), nor was it impressive enough to justify moving them in front of a proven Texas team, in spite of their loss. Texas and Utah may be the two closest teams in my ranking. -1
11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame moves up on a bye with other teams' losses and unimpressive performances. +3
12 Florida Gators Miami going and losing to UNC did not help my thoughts on the Gators' week 1 performance, in spite of their solid win against a mediocre UT Martin team. -3
13 Maryland Terrapins Maryland may be for real this year. That win against Syracuse was eyebrow raising, on top of their brutal takedown of Howard. They enter my ballot for the first time this year.
14 UCF Knights Good win, meeting expectations. +1
15 Penn State Nittany Lions As with UCF, Penn State met expectations. +1
16 Oregon Ducks Oregon played an extremely impressive bounceback game against a semi-proven Nevada team. +8.
17 Michigan Wolverines Michigan did not impress me against MTSU, and then *really* unimpressed me against Army. One game is a fluke, two games is a trend until proven otherwise. -10
18 Washington State Cougars +0
19 Virginia Cavaliers +0
20 Texas A&M Aggies It wasn't a very bad loss given how good Clemson is, but it certainly wasn't a good loss. A backdoor cover was the only way they got within 20. The offensive showing was extremely poor, and won't win big games in the future, which is a big problem with such a loaded schedule. Still, lots of potential for improvement with better showings against Alabama, LSU, Georgia, and Auburn. -9
21 Michigan State Spartans Solid win with signs of life on offense. +2
22 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa had a good shutout win against lowly Rutgers. +0
23 Oklahoma State Cowboys +2
24 USC Trojans USC enters my ranking for the first time this year after an impressive win over Stanford.
25 Baylor Bears Baylor enters the ranking for the first time this year after 2 high margin-of-victory wins.

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